The Treasury Department announced late on Wednesday that Americans receiving Social Security benefits no longer have to file their taxes to get a $1,200 stimulus check from the federal government.

“Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return need to take no action, and will receive their payment directly to their bank account,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The move could have shut out millions of elderly and disabled people from getting a check under the $2.2 trillion stimulus package that President Donald Trump recently signed into law. People are eligible for the money even if they haven’t filed a tax return in several years, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The legislation already contained language saying Treasury would review Social Security data for seniors and disabled people to deliver their money. Individuals earning below $75,000 are set to get the full $1,200 check, but the amount gradually scales down until cutting off eligibility for single-filers earning more than $99,000.

Advocates for low-income Americans argued the additional hurdle would burden people during a public-health crisis.

Chye-Ching Huang, the director of economic policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a tweet that “it makes no sense to impose a new paperwork burden on millions of seniors during a pandemic.”

The IRS development provoked extensive criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, 41 senators sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to reconsider, saying that instructing older Americans and people with disabilities to file a tax return would be “a significant burden.”

They called for making the payments automatic instead.

Some Republicans were angered as well. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Congress included language in the stimulus law to ensure that Social Security beneficiaries wouldn’t have to file a tax return to receive the money.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that about 15 million Americans on Social Security would have to file a return to get the payment, even though the government already sends them monthly checks.